To Grow, the Mexican Economy Must Shed Vestiges of Populist, One-Party Rule, Argues Laurence Kerr in the Latest "Milken Institute Review"

LOS ANGELES, CA, Jul 18, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Laurence Kerr, a former minister-counselor for economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, puts Mexico's economy in historical context and illustrates that continuing issues including immigration, security, and oil industry policies threaten its growth potential.

Also in this issue:

Robert Looney of the Naval Postgraduate School in California challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's weakening grip on power. While most media accounts have focused on Musharraf's power grabs and constitutional abuses, Looney believes that simple economics have eroded support for the Pakistani leader.

Sherry Glied of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health explores how a universal health-insurance mandate would (and wouldn't) work, and why the idea provokes extreme reactions.

Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington analyzes what he believes to be the waste and conflicts of interest in the current system of drug testing. He proposes a bold alternative in publicly financed drug testing:

Robert Archibald and David Feldman of College of William and Mary in Virginia argue that health-care inflation is part of a broader trend in service industries that depend heavily on skilled labor.

From the recent Milken Institute Global Conference, Michael Milken chats with Nobel Prize-winning economists Gary Becker, Ned Phelps, Myron Scholes and Michael Spence about topics ranging from China's humungous foreign currency reserves to the prospects for another depression. Also, Financial Times columnist Tim Harford explains how economic game theory has produced a poker champion. And Milken Institute senior fellow Bill Frey focuses on the role of race in swing states for this issue's Charticle.

"The Milken Institute Review" is available online and by mail with paid subscription. It is sent quarterly to the world's leading business and financial executives, senior policy-makers and journalists. Its editor is Peter Passell, former economics columnist for The New York Times.

About the Milken Institute: The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, independent economic think tank whose mission is to improve the lives and economic conditions of diverse populations around the world by helping business and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideas for creating broad-based prosperity. It is based in Santa Monica, Calif. (